I glanced at Liam. “Will you tell me more about your family? What to expect?”
He laughed. “It might scare you off if I do.”
“They can’t be as bad as my parents.”
“Not really. I guess.” Liam knew all about my parents. He took a sip of his water and peered at me, his blue eyes sparkling in mirth. He was obviously enjoying this. “Okay. My father is a lawyer and has his own law practice, which he jointly owns with an old friend of his, Lewis. My older brother, Jack is engaged to marry Lewis’ daughter, Mia.”
“I didn’t know you had a brother.” Surprise turned to confusion. Why hadn’t he told me before? We’d had the sibling conversation during one of our earlier dates; if that’s what you’d call them, and he never mentioned a brother.
“Yeah. They’re getting married over the summer, Jack’s twenty-five, and studying to be a lawyer. He’s been groomed since we were kids to take our father’s place at the law firm. Dad wants him to settle into life as a family lawyer, whereas Jack has always held a fascination in criminal law. He’s the golden boy because he’s studying law,” he sneered.
“I take it you don’t get along too well with him?”
“We get along well enough or at least we used to do. He seems angry all the time.”
God, did I want to head to Alabama? Yeah, I did – one word – cowboys. Besides, I liked weddings, I’d had the pleasure of being a bridesmaid at twelve weddings in my twenty-one years, so it would be fun to go to one in Alabama.
“Thalia, let’s eat and talk about something else. My stomach can’t take anymore talk about my family.”
Chapter 3
Thalia
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In the process of trying to pull my skinny jeans up my legs, Callie came barging into my room with a brush stuck in her hair. The ‘stuck brush’ happened nearly every time we were getting ready to go out, often because she was trying to multi task. Multi-tasking wasn’t exactly something Callie was capable of, probably why she was a bit hit-and-miss with cooking.
With my jeans finally up around my hips, I left them unbuttoned to try and untangle the brush. “How do you always manage to get this thing tangled?”
“Ouch!”
“Sorry,” I said grinning; my fingers working the mess of hair through the brush.
“I keep thinking about having it all cut off, but it wouldn’t be me, you know?”
“Yeah, I know. Just try and remember to concentrate when you’re doing your hair in the future, because one of these days you’re going to end up having to have the brush cut out.”
Slapping the now free brush into Callie’s hand, I laughed as she jumped up from my bed and ran back into her room.
Tonight was our last night together until the end of the summer when we came back to our apartment to finish our final year of college. Oh, we’d be on the phone to each other, and maybe try to meet up at some point, but it wasn’t the same. I would miss Callie.
While I’d been packing my clothes and accessories during the afternoon, I had second thoughts about going home with Liam. I liked him well enough, but after hearing about his family and his brother, I couldn’t shake the lump of worry that had settled in the pit of my stomach.
“Thalia, you ready.” Callie shouted as she poked her head into my room. “What’s wrong?”
I inhaled. “Nothing. Come on lets go.” I ushered her through our small apartment, grabbing our jackets and purses on the way out, before she could question me further.
Once outside, I had to dash to keep up with her. Deciding that the night would go smoother with a few rules, I said, “I’m not drinking too much tonight. I have a long car journey tomorrow, so I don’t want to be puking all the way there. I also wouldn’t put it past Liam to leave me if I get sick in his car.”
She stopped and turned. A worry line traced its way across her forehead as her gaze bored into me. “I think you’re making a mistake,” her tone was clipped as though she was holding back, “but it’s your decision.” She frowned as I tugged her arm to get her moving again instead of replying right away.
I loved her like a sister, but I had to make my own decisions. If I didn’t, Callie would end up treating me like a little girl, just like my parents did. “I’m a big girl now.” I smiled to take the challenge out of my tone. “If I’m not happy there then I’ll head home, or to Texas.”
“You promise.”
“Yes Mom,” I laughed, pushing my way through the door of Luke’s as Callie followed me inside.
Luke’s was a five-minute walk from where we lived, and every Friday night they had a live band. More often than not it was ‘The Leopards’, not sure where that name came from, but they were good. Luke’s always had a full house when they played.